a good pci graphics card for (Gentoo) Linux

catzooka · Apprentice Joined: 05 Nov 2002 Posts: 193

to start off, yes i have read all of those threads titled "Whats the best graphics card for Linux," and what other else threads on graphic cards are out there, however, most of these, if not all, threads are discussing AGP cards. my problem is that my computer is a bit old, its sony vaio pcv-j100 with an intel celeron 601Mhz processor, 256MB max ram, and all sorts of built on junk on the motherboard. now, the real problem is that my computer has absolutely no agp slot for a graphics card, only 4 pci slots. so, what i was wondering is, what is a good PCI graphics card for linux that would give me good performance wiht 3d acceleration and video? previously i have had two voodoo2 cards, which amounted to about 12MB 3d acceleration, which was pretty decent 5 or so years back, however, nowdays it would be a miracle to get those to work in the first place, so for the moment i am stuck with the i810 agp chip on my motherboard :cry:

in short, i desperately need all of your help to find a good pci graphics card for my computer. thank you in advance for all of your help :wink:

xcable · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 1:30 pm Post subject: been a while

It's been a while sinse I though about PCI graphics cards.

Old Cards :

Nvidia TNT based graphics cards, I beleive, came in PCI form. Nvidia TNT are also supported fairly well.

Don't know about ATI based cards during that time.

But 3dfx (Voodoo) cards are the "best" supported graphics cards in XFree86. The drivers are full and completely open-source (because the company that makes them on longer exists).

But good luck finding these cards.

New Cards :

New chipsets are still being built for the PCI slot. Any chipset supported in XFree86 should work in either a AGP or PCI slot.

Check out : http://www.insightcomponents.com/ic/apps/tinas/index2.php?page=34

Heath Holcomb

catzooka · Apprentice Joined: 05 Nov 2002 Posts: 193

aright, thank you very much xcable, these cards are exactly what im looking for (and are luckly not THAT expensive), and as long as they are supported under linux ill be happy

and yes, i know that voodoo cards are supported under linux, but thats voodoo 3 and up from what i can tell, so i will definitly be on the lookout for something nvidia, since ive read that their linux support is better than anybody elses... so again, thank you very much

FastTurtle · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:57 pm Post subject:

The card that I use is the Nvidia TNT2/M64. You can find versions called TNT Vanta which only has 16 though I'd go for the TNT2/M64 since it's also available in PCI.

Another one to look for is a PCI version of the Geforce2. I've seen them for around 10/15 more then then TNT2 and the performance is far better then the TNT's.

UnTopGun22 · Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 2:44 pm Post subject:

Here's a good website to buy all kinds of computer related goodies,but this links you directly to the PCI sub-category

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_slc.asp?CatId=319 . You can get a pretty good GeForce2 card for like $40-$60 from this site. I have a old computer too and it's in bad need of upgrading,so I'm thinking about getting a GeForce2 MX200.
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pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20588

Moved from Desktop Environments.

mpsii · l33t Joined: 11 Mar 2003 Posts: 658 Location: Jackson, TN

Honestly, you can find GeForce 4 420/440 MX PCI cards for the same amount as TNT2/M64 cards. I would go with one of these...

http://www.3btech.net/bfgasgemx64p.html

http://www.shentech.com/bfgasgemx64s.html

Or just go to www.pricewatch.com and search for "geforce pci" to find several options. Most are in the $45-65 range. Be careful of the GeForce 2MX boards. They are about the same price as the GeForce 4MX boards, but you get better bang for your buck with the 4MX cards.
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Michael